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Sports Watch by Dinesh Weerawansa

Stop indiscipline in rugby

Indiscipline has invaded the local rugby arena. There have been several instances in the last couple of weeks where players have tried to be smarter than the referees in teaching the laws of the game.

The ugliest of them all was the assault on referee Aruna Jayasekera by CR and FC's No. 8 from Tonga, Joshua Kala, who had fled the country fearing arrest. Now, his club CR & FC has to pay for his sins by way of a suspension and or the obligation of paying compensation to the victimised referee.

In a way, it's pity that CR had to be at the receiving end due to the over aggressiveness of their overseas player. Surely, CR would not in any way tell their players to act in such a way. Being a reputed and leading rugby playing club in Sri Lanka, CR would never tell their players to win at any cost.

But CR may have made one mistake. That is getting down a player with such unruly behavior.

True that a club cannot go intensively into his personal records before they sign a contract. But it is no excuse. We must shut our doors to players of such temperament. If not, our players would try to follow the bad example set.

Apart from the CR incident, the SLRFU instructed its own disciplinary committee to act firmly against a CH & FC player who is alleged to have pushed referee Rankothgae in their game against Kandy Sports Club. The DC has not followed proper procedure and has been lenient on the player, according to the SLRFU Secretary Iswarn Omar. It is because this that the SLRFU council instructed its own disciplinary committee to follow the International Rugby Board guidelines concerning such an incident.

Of course IRB is firm on matters relating to referee assault or misconduct. Omar said a player could be suspended up to two years on a count similar to CH's case. Even at this late stage, the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) should be firm on the players. The clubs must also warn their players that no nonsense would be tolerated. Discipline should come first always, irrespective of how good a player is. Talent should be combined effectively with discipline to make a complete player. It is not the winning that matters but how one played the game.

It is the duty of the SLRFU to be on the ball, be very firm on players who take the law in to their hands, try to lecture on the laws of the game to the referee: Whether he is right or wrong, referee's decision shall be final. One must realise he too is a human.

Technology is being used to almost near maximum to help cricket umpires. The ICC even try to implement several more experiments regarding the use of technology to assist umpires at next month's ICC Mini World Cup. But in rugby, referees have not been that fortunate. Rugby referees have to make instant decision on what they see with their naked eye.

That leaves room for a genuine human error. A good referee is the one who makes the least number of mistakes.

Just because a referee makes a mistake, neither players nor the spectators have the right to assault a referee. Even if a random referee had acted in a partial way, there is a way and a process of reporting him to the SLRFU Council though the tournament committee.

It is good to hear that the SLRFU Council has decided to be firm on unruly players. They are also going to have a thorough screening on foreign players in future. That is good news to all loyal rugby players, clubs and those who respect the game. Of course the referees too could feel more comfortable to act in the middle because they would know the chances of an unexpected assault is less.

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